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Thank you for sharing your views!

We read the same Old Testament and see the foreshadowing of Christ in it; they don't. So, what's the point of stating what they believe? We read the OT through the lens of the NT; they don't.

I would say that a bit differently, i.e. our understanding of the law and the prophets is illuminated by the person of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. It was never enough to know the Scriptures, one had to also know the power of God. (Matt 12:24)

The Torah, indeed the Tanakh, is no small matter to God. As Jesus said, not a jot or tittle will pass from the law and the prophets until it is all fulfilled (Matt 5:18, Romans 3:1-2).

Obviously, not every Jew was blind or deaf to spiritual Truth. Indeed, God chose and revealed much to Abraham, Moses, David and so on - and they were used mightily by Him.

Moreover the Hebrew word concepts I’ve mentioned - nephesh, ruach, neshama, ruach Elohim - are rooted in Scripture.

To whatever extent they were raised in the Talmud or in the oral traditions is beside the point.

These are the concepts – not trichotomy – which Paul explicates in the New Testament in Romans 8. The body is not even the issue, the carnal nature – the nephesh is.

Thanks, AG. Always a pleasure to read your posts.

It was never enough to know the Scriptures, one had to also know the power of God

So much for the sola scriptura then. :) All kidding aside, the Jews will tell you that they know the power of God more than any other people on earth.

The Torah, indeed the Tanakh, is no small matter to God. As Jesus said, not a jot or tittle will pass from the law and the prophets until it is all fulfilled (Matt 5:18, Romans 3:1-2).

I agree. But why drag kabbalistic and rabbinical beliefs tainted with neo-Platonic and Persian concepts into Christianity? Again, pre-existence of the souls entered Judaism through Babylon and hellenistic influences, and not through the Torah, as for the Tanakh I am not sure (some parts were written after the Babylonian captivity).

Obviously, not every Jew was blind or deaf to spiritual Truth

Obviously many were. What's your point?

These are the concepts – not trichotomy – which Paul explicates in the New Testament in Romans 8

They were interpreted as trichotomy by some, even to this day.

A kind of Spiritual Trichotomy is true...
1) The Body rots in a casket...
2) The Brain(soul) does too....
3) The spirit was/is/will be eternal(survives)..

** The spirit drives the soul that drives the body that sins..
The spirit also accepts Christs sacrifice and covering..
The spirit can be re-born.. regenerated.. forgiven as a prodigal son to a spiritual father..

The human body is concieved by a man and woman as in all animals and is indeed that bodys Father and Mother, the spirit is added by the heavenly father... and is the father to the spirit.. all of them(spirits).. whether they agree with that or NOT..

Most humans do not know they are indeed spirits in a body suit..

That was pretty much Jesus' ministry to inform them of that.. in a way they could accept.. (some of them)..